El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula.

I’ve been reading a book by James Frey called Bright Shiny Morning.  BECAUSE KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!  But shit is real fuckin good man, real talk.  It’s “a sweeping chronicle of contemporary Los Angeles” and every chapter starts with a little history lesson about L.A.  So, starting now, whenever I get bored I’ll post one of these nifty bits of trivia on the blog.

“On September 4, 1871, a group of forty-four men, women and children who call themselves the Pobladores establish a settlement on land that is near the center of contemporary Los Angeles. They name the settlement El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula. Two-thirds of the settlers are either freed or escaped African slaves, or the direct descendants of freed or escaped African slaves. Most of the rest are Native American. Three are Mexican. One is European.”